After a festive and joyful Easter Sunday, Jesus' Resurrection is still on my mind. I have another poem to share, serendipitously, about Our Lord making an appearance to a couple of men as they walked along the road to Emmaus...
THE EMMAUS
TRIPTYCH
Luke 24:13-35
I. THE UNNAMED FRIEND
Cleopas and
friend walked and talked
with
lumbering gaits and downcast faces
shining hopes
of sweet redemption
dashed and
obliterated
They asked of
each other the Why question
for if anyone had come to fill those old
prophecies
surely it had
seemed to be Him
that Jesus
they'd come to know
through signs
and wonders
that appeared to be miraculous
Their
so-called Messiah had been crucified
was dead and
gone. Yes, gone, gone, gone!
Even His cold
dead body was missing
from the tomb
that had been sealed—
He approached them
in the midst
of their perplexity
on the road
to Emmaus
He walked
with them, talked with them
they even
felt His fire
but didn't
know who He was
and strange
as that may seem
how often have
I been
the unnamed
friend of Cleopas?
I, too,
profess to know Him, know Him well
yet fail to
recognize Him along the road
II. THE STRANGER
Taking the
barley loaf in his hands
the stranger
lifted it
Baruch ata Adonai
Eloheynu Melech ha Olam
ha motzie lechem
min ha'aretz
He tore it,
offered it, and just as it fell
into reaching
grasps
their
astonished eyes recognized Him
and in that
instant
He utterly
vanished from their sight!
Leaping from
the table, Cleopas and his friend
stumbled over
each other
looking
under, over, around, and around
knowing even
as they did
it was True
after all
As they
looked at each other
their
disbelief became relief
the sweet
awakening of a deep Belief
for Truth
visited them along the way
joined them
at their table, broke their humble bread
They asked
each other
Were not our hearts burning
as He talked with us on the road
and opened the Scriptures to us?
Now, blazing
temples of Holy Fire
they suddenly
knew their once shattered hearts
would never
cool again
III. MY EMMAUS
When I first
found You, or You found me
I thought I'd
go from strength to strength
pinnacle to
pinnacle, joy to joy
and so it was
for a season
when love was
new
then the
whirlwind came
thrashing
through my world
upending all
my securities
leaving me
stunned, broken, alone
certain I
would die
so I waited
for You to save me
waited for
prayers pleaded at Your scarred feet
to avail
their just reward
for I
believed in You, trusted, hoped
Eyes veiled,
I couldn't find You
failed to
recognize You along the road
Had I
believed in vain?
Then You
began to speak
not audibly,
but whenever I opened Your Word
Radiance,
Glory, Unfailing Love
sprang from
the page and became manifest
My heart
blazed! I began to shine!
Now, on the
other side of sorrow
I dare not
forget my burning heart,
Your Glorious
Presence
so I abide,
remembering
it is You, my
Jesus
Who walks
with me along the road
Maude Carolan
"Behold the Lamb...poetically!"
by Maude Carolan Pych
is available online at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
www.maudecarolanpych.net
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